Sunday, November 28, 2010

Base Miles

So yes, I have indeed been rather derelict in my blogging duties. There are ten zillion thousand hundred velo bloggers out there, yet only a small percentage actually blog faithfully and persistantly year-in and year-out (or as a true cyclist would say: "season in, season out"). I gave it a go for two years, and not only was it great fun that connected me to a great community of fellow Jewish cyclists, but to the greater cycling community as well.

However, things happen in the cycling world that cause us to fall out of the fray for a little while. For pro cyclists, it's a doping bust ("...see you in two years, when I plan to get signed to a ProTour team and secure a spot on the Italian Worlds team"). For amateurs, it's the economy, career, and family, also known as "real life". Well, I'm not a pro, and the closest I get to doping is perhaps one too many energy gels. But I am an amateur, so I have tested positive over the last two years for job loss, job gain, career-focus, and family growth. Still, one thing is for sure:

No matter what happens, you're still a cyclist.

I've often mentioned that when you finish your ride, swing a leg over the top tube, and hang up your bike until the next ride, you're still very much a cylist. Linking together each ride is how you eat, how you maintain your fitness, how you budget your time, how you budget your finances, and what beer you drink. However, between each ride may also be a major change in your life, such as a dramitic shift in the economy, loss of a job, focus on maintaining your career path, obtaining a new job, and growing your family. Sometimes, it's not a day or two between rides; sometimes it's days, weeks, or months. Yet, no matter how flabby our midsections become, no matter how hairy our legs grow, or how dusty our bikes get, we're still cyclists. For us, between each ride can be time enough to read a whole issue of Bicycling Magazine, watching Paris-Roubaix on DVR for the third time, or connecting to our faux-Belgian cycling heritage by sampling yet another Flandrian ale.

Or bogging!

So I apologize for my absence, thank those of you who've read and followed this blog in the past, and as I ask for your forgiveness as a derelict blogger with dusty bikes and a flabby midsection, I only ask that you bear with me while I bring this blog and this enthusiasm for hardcore cycling and the lifestyle of a hardcore Jew who is a hardcore cyclist ("hey look, it's the day after Shabbat, it's 41 degrees out, and the skies are grey and promising freezing rain; let's ride!)

About Me

Quite possibly the world's only orthodox Jewish cyclocrosser, Jason Pearlman lives both the Torah life and the Velo life. Sometimes he even has time for his family and friends. Involved with the sport since he caught Paris-Roubaix on television by accident in 1985, Pearlman has gone beyond the "recreational" and "hobby" aspects of bicycling into the world of hardcore cycling obsession. Of course, there is no riding on the Shabbat, you won't find a ham and cheese sandwich in his mussette, and no, Merckx is a legend but he is not god (thus the need for a pre-ride recitation of the She'ma). Ride hard, ride kosher, don't ride on Saturday - Welcome to the Complete Jewish Cyclist.